


Bloom

by nastymajesty



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-05-07 20:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19216816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nastymajesty/pseuds/nastymajesty
Summary: “Do you think you can stop by the grocery store on your way home?”“Mmm, why? I thought we didn’t need any for the rest of the week.”“We technically don’t,” There was a pause on the other end for a second, and Malibu heard pages turning. She had a good hunch she was right about Palace finding something she wanted to try. “But I found an old cookbook in the cupboard. I don’t know where it came from, but I want to give some of the things in there a try when you get home. With you, preferably.”Malibu let a smile creep onto her face. Bingo. “Of course. What’cha need?”[ My Piece for the À la mode Splatoon Zine! ]





	Bloom

**Author's Note:**

> I meant to post this some time ago but got caught up with moving, and just remembered to do so now for the sake of fic week!  
> This takes place long after Within Palace Walls (Which will hopefully be updated soon aha, I actually am almost done with the next chapter but then I had to work on this zine piece and then I moved out of state...Whoops), but you don't need to read that for context - it's simply just the same Agent 3 and 8. ♥  
> I actually reccomend you [support the zine itself here, and read this piece in there too!](https://twitter.com/alamodezine/status/1129899332533182470) The hosts did an amazing job at decorating the page for this piece and I adore it to death. Give it love!

Malibu straightened her jacket, hugging it closer to her body to get a bit more protection from the chilly breeze of Inkopolis’s fresh spring. She had spent the last two hours doing ranked battles after nearly a month of not playing at all - leaving her as a sweaty and tired mess - making the cold wind sting to her skin. The afternoon was a gentle one, with plenty of sun and birds about, yet almost every cephalopod who would normally be in the square was either at work or school at this hour. The inkling adjusted her bag and ink tank, shifting its weight to the other side of her body to relieve some soreness, and sighed blissfully. She let her eyes glaze over the square for about a minute, taking in the warmth between the wind and the city’s rare peace and quiet. She made a mental note to paint something like this later in the week.

Deciding it would best to get going now, Malibu checked the time and sent a quick text to her wife letting her know she would be on her way home. She had offered to take Palace turfing, at least to come and watch, but the octoling had declined, reciting what she usually said about ‘not liking those ink battles of hers’ and that sports simply weren’t her thing. Malibu found it adorable. Of _course_ a tiny librarian like her wouldn’t enjoy such _terrible_ ink carnage, and would rather stay at home sticking her nose in a book.

Almost immediately after sending Palace a text about being on her way home, her phone’s ringtone went off at almost full blast - a dorky song she wrote for her and her wife years ago, sometime before getting together - interrupting the square’s silence.

“What’s up?” She answered.

“Malley,” Palace replied on the other line, sounding rushed. Malibu knew that tone - it was the same one that meant she found something new that she really wanted to try and dive head first into as quickly as possible. “Do you think you can stop by the grocery store on your way home?”

“Mmm, why? I thought we didn’t need any for the rest of the week.”

“We technically don’t,” There was a pause on the other end for a second, and Malibu heard pages turning. She had a good hunch she was right about Palace finding something she wanted to try. “But I found an old cookbook in the cupboard. I don’t know where it came from, but I want to give some of the things in there a try when you get home. With you, preferably.”

Malibu let a smile creep onto her face. Bingo. “Of course. What’cha need?”

“I’ll send you a picture of the ingredients in a moment, thank you honey.”

“You’re very welcome.” Malibu chuckled. “Anythin’ else?”

“No, I think that should be it…” She heard some shuffling around on the other end, likely more sifting through the book.

“Mm. Alright. Love ya, then.”

“Love you too!” Palace blew an air kiss on the other end and Malibu felt her face numb with how hard she was smiling. It wasn’t fair that her wife was this cute.

They said their quick goodbyes and a few minutes later, Palace had sent her a complete and very detailed list of everything they needed, including a picture from the book and Palace’s specific instructions for products to buy with big bold letters and arrows emphasizing that they needed THIS SPECIFIC BRAND AND PRODUCT OR ELSE EVERYTHING COULD GO _HORRIBLY WRONG_ , which was code for ‘Or else Palace will freak out because it won’t be perfect’. But that was fine by Malibu, she would get her just what she wanted, and she found her habit of going out of her way to make sure they got the best possible thing adorable.

Malibu sent another text, assuring her that she’d get just everything and be home in about an hour. She realized she’d likely have to carry bother her turfing gear and bags of groceries all the way back to their apartment and huffed, but it wouldn’t be that much of a big deal. She was strong enough to carry everything, and could easily find a ride if she needed it. It was worth it for her wife at the end of the day.

 

***

 

When Malibu arrived home, she found Palace already setting things up and vigorously going over the book she found earlier. She hadn’t even noticed the inkling came home, despite how loud she tends to be when she closes the door and puts the groceries and her gear down in the hall.

Malibu snickered and decided to sneak up on her wife, carefully tip-toeing her way towards her. When she was close enough, she carefully snaked her arms around the octoling’s waist, getting a yelp in response. Palace squirmed for a second, but then quickly realized who’s grasp she was in and relaxed.

“Hey,” Palace hummed, letting herself melt in Malibu’s arms. “You got home faster than I expected.”

“What can I say?” The inkling buried her face in Palace’s neck. “Wifey wanted meeeee.”

“Oh, hush up, you.” Palace smiled, jokingly pushing the other away.

“What’s the book say?” Malibu didn’t budge, instead leaning down to rest her chin on her much smaller partner.

“It seems like a fairly standard cake recipe to me, so there can’t be any possible way we mess this up.” Palace pointed a claw at the page with the almost boringly plain chocolate cake on it. Now that Malibu had a closer look at the book itself, however, she wondered why it felt so familiar.

“Hmm.” Malibu let go of her wife and moved to stand beside her. “Yep. Plain n’ simple. But I thought you would have wanted something more...You, really.”

The octoling adjusted the glasses on the bridge of her nose and almost pouted when she crossed her arms. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” Malibu was grinning now, trying to pull of her most charming face that she knew very well her wife couldn’t resist. “You usually try to jump head first into the complicated stuff.”

“I do not!” Palace whined, her tentacles curling in. “I just...Enjoy trying new things, that is all. But baking is different, because I have to physically digest my work when it’s finished. And I, personally, am not the biggest fan of accidentally giving myself some kind of horrible cake-stomach virus.”

“Oh, where has my dear princess’s confidence gone?” The inkling said with as much dramatic effect as she could muster, placing the back of her hand on Palace’s forehead to jokingly check for a fever. Palace was normally the one to force herself into new things, claiming that _of course_ she understood it, she was _up all night studying it!_ So seeing her wife hesitate and get nervous about something that wasn’t ink battling was a rare sight to behold. “Are you sick, my love? Did you catch a cold?”

“Stop that!” Palace swatted Malibu’s hand away, giggling. “Can we just get started already?”

Malibu let her hand drift towards the side of Palace’s face, letting her tentacle curl around her fingers. “Fine, fine. Lucky for you, I’m kinda a baker.”

“You? Of all cephalopods?” Palace seemed genuinely surprised by this revelation, and the inkling wasn’t sure if she should be offended or not.

Malibu winked. “I like to think I’m a woman of many talents.”

“But I’ve never seen you bake before, and you certainly don’t seem like the one to make… Cute pastries?”

“Eh,” Malibu chuckled. “I get that a lot. Can I see the cookbook?”

“Oh, of course.” Palace gently moved the book from where it originally was propped up and handed it to her wife.

Malibu flipped through its contents until she got to the very back, where she found her name messily scrawled on the last page. “Aha!”

Palace leaned up on her tip-toes to try and see, making Malibu tilt it downwards so she could. “What is it?”

“This is my book,” She put the book back on the counter and pointed at her name. “It’s pretty old, but I must have packed it when I moved in here. I got it when I was like…” She tapped her chin, thinking. “Seventeen or so? It was a pretty long time ago.”

“Oh, that explains a lot.” Palace hummed. “I still don’t see you as the baking type, though. You’re so...Tough.”

“You also told me you didn’t see me as the knitting and sewing type, and yet here we are.” Malibu motioned towards Palace’s sweater, indicating she made it herself.

“Okay okay, fine. You’re correct. Can we get started then?”

Pictures of the two of them dancing around in the kitchen while they waited for the cake to bake, or covering each other in flower, or Palace being overall adorable flashed through Malibu’s mind and made her lesbian heart melt. She grinned, moving back to her original position behind her wife to squish her. “Yep, let’s bake a borin’ ol’ cake.”

 


End file.
